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The various approaches and technologies that might be used to return carbon to the planet’s soils (from no-till agriculture; through compost- and biochar-application; to agro-forestry and innovative livestock rotation practices) also promise a wide range of further benefits – from improved soil health through to better water management, via a significant boost to biodiversity.

Moreover, if we embrace an approach that treats farmers, rural communities and indigenous peoples fairly, and which ensures a living wage, we move into win-win-win territory.

All of which means that regenerative agriculture – agriculture which aims to put more into the environment and society than it takes out – is now near the top of the list of things that society should be exploring and embracing.

Regenerative agriculture takes advantage of soil as a carbon sink, improves soil quality, and produces more nutritious food in ways that make it not only better for the people who consume it, but also for those working to produce it.

Signals of Change:

We are seeing signs of momentum around regenerative agriculture, from funding to legislation to innovation. Here are some of them:

In the US, California has directed $7.5 million towards the Healthy Soils Initiative, which is offering farmers and ranchers grants of up to $50,000 to embark on a series of experiments in carbon farming.

By Diana Donlon A handful of states around the country have begun to recognize the importance of carbon farming as an expedient tool to fight climate change. What's carbon farming? Eric Toensmeier, author of The Carbon Farming Solution , describes it as "a suite of crops and agricultural practices that sequester carbon in the soil and in perennial vegetation like trees."

Finca Luna Nueva is a small-scale farm deploying a mix of regenerative agricultural practices in Costa Rica. It produces a range of spices, vegetables and fruits designed to optimize photosynthesis, draw excess carbon down from the atmosphere, and create carbon-rich topsoil.

Pasturebird, a poultry farming company using a novel way of raising chickens on pasture, has raised a seed extension funding round from angel investors. The new capital will enable the Murrieta, California rotational grazing operation to expand to 100 acres.

A call to action?

There are huge opportunities for businesses, producers and governments to promote regenerative agriculture. Indeed, we would argue that, if we are to deliver on the ambitions as laid out within the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Climate Change Agreement, then a regenerative approach becomes essential.

However, despite all of the activity alluded to above, we have not yet found any significant commitments towards regenerative agriculture among the big corporate brands that have the influence and means to truly make a difference. Progressive corporate brands could make a huge difference to supporting, piloting and scaling promising technologies, through investment and experimentation.

Their reluctance might reflect the reality that many questions remain about the various technologies and approaches that fall under the umbrella of ‘regenerative agriculture’. How effective are they in terms of capturing carbon and providing food? How affordable and scalable are they? How widely can they be applied?

Which is why Forum for the Future would like to see pioneering brands:

Commit to becoming regenerative, even if they don’t yet know what this means in practice. Simply aspiring to be low- or lower-carbon is no longer sufficient.

Support the testing of promising regenerative agriculture options in their supply chains – and share success stories widely.

Work closely with their peers to rapidly roll-out and scale-up the most promising interventions.

Your thoughts

What other signals of change have you seen that suggest that regenerative agriculture is gaining traction? Or, indeed, that it isn’t…

Which techniques, technologies and approaches do you think offer the greatest potential?

Who do we need to work with to get promising solutions tested in the field – and then scaled up?

Forum for the Future is currently exploring the potential to scale up regenerative agricultural practice and will be running workshops over the next few months in New York, London and Mumbai. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact Iain Watt or Mary McCarthy.

@iainjwatt @Forum4theFuture @FuturesCentre Have you paid a visit to https://t.co/iOsbmJ4LsT and connected with the work of @Terra_Genesis promoting systemic multi-capital design solutions? Surely at the forefront here!

@v17us @Forum4theFuture @FuturesCentre @Terra_Genesis Thanks Ben. We're trying to work out how best to persuade/cajole/convince big brands to embrace/support #RegenerativeAgriculture. If we're successful, hopefully more work for @Terra_Genesis! :)

@v17us @Forum4theFuture @FuturesCentre @Terra_Genesis We using core funding (from a variety of foundations) at the moment. But if a project emerges, we would look to our corporate partners (https://t.co/ZryglwXhvB) for funding

First @Danone, now @McDonalds: https://t.co/ieiwGAzNEW. Great to see companies experimenting with #RegenerativeAgriculture. But is that sufficient? How do we move from experiments to transformation? https://t.co/j4pTzsljAi @FuturesCentre @makower @ericbecker350

@iainjwatt @v17us @Forum4theFuture @FuturesCentre It looks like you have a number of shared aims with Terra @Terra_Genesis . Let us know if there is some way we can add value to your work. The more of us that can uplift #regenerativeag the better!

What might the implications of this be? What related articles have you seen?

Encourage a look at the following recent article which, after overblown metaphorical intro, lays out a very simple smart case and framework–including sharp critique of mainstream Drawdown logic–to advocate for large scale grassroots land-based climate solutions through agriculture and permaculture: https://medium.com/@albertbates/acceleration-b652377a596f

There are indeed many activities which can come under the regenerative umbrella. Much depends on where in the world you are. What will work brilliantly in one area will not work well in another.

One major reason things are being held back is that proponents of different actions are still arguing that their way is better. Until they stop arguing and realise they that are all right, and that a wide variety of actions is required, we will not move forward as well as we might. http://www.drawdown.org/ gives a good idea of why all possible actions must be carried out, suiting them to the person, the group, the country and the soil type, as appropriate.